vmdocker

📖 Overview

VMDocker is a high-performance, Docker-based virtual machine implementation designed for the HyMatrix computing network. It serves as a universal virtual machine extension that can be seamlessly mounted to HyMatrix nodes, enabling scalable and verifiable computation execution.

🌟 Key Features

• 🔌 Universal VM Interface: Compatible with standard HyMatrix VM protocol
• 🐳 Docker-based: Leverages Docker containers for isolated computation environments
• 🔄 Multi-Architecture Support: Supports EVM, WASM, AO, LLM model services, and more
• 📊 Checkpoint & Restore: Advanced state management with CRIU integration
• ⚡ High Performance: Optimized for scalable computation workloads
• 🔗 AO Compatible: Full support for AO protocol containers

🏗️ Architecture

┌─────────┐    ┌──────────┐    ┌───────────┐
│ HyMatrix│───▶│VMDocker  │───▶│Container  │
│  Node   │    │ Manager  │    │(EVM/WASM) │
└─────────┘    └──────────┘    └───────────┘

🔗 About HyMatrix

HyMatrix is an infinitely scalable decentralized computing network that decouples computation from consensus by anchoring execution logs in immutable storage (Arweave), enabling verifiable, trustless computation anywhere.

🌐 Learn more: https://hymatrix.com/

🛠️ VM Interface

VMDocker implements the standard HyMatrix VM interface:

// hymx/vmm/schema/schema.go
type Vm interface {
    Apply(from string, meta Meta) (res *Result, err error)
    Checkpoint() (data string, err error)
    Restore(data string) error
    Close() error
}

Supported Container Types:

• 🔷 EVM: Ethereum Virtual Machine
• 🟦 WASM: WebAssembly runtime
• 🟠 AO: Arweave AO protocol (Container Repository)
• 🤖 LLM: Large Language Model services
• ➕ Custom: Any containerized computation environment

🚀 Getting Started

📋 Prerequisites

Component	Version	Platform	Required
Operating System	Linux	Any	✅
Go	1.24.0+	Any	✅
Docker	27.3.x	Any	✅
Redis	Latest	Any	✅
Clang/GCC	Latest	Any	✅ (for CGO)
CRIU	v4.1	Linux only	⚠️ (for checkpoint)

⚠️ Note: CRIU is only required for checkpoint functionality and is Linux-specific. macOS users can skip CRIU installation.

📦 Installation

1. Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/cryptowizard0/vmdocker.git
cd vmdocker

2. Install Dependencies

go mod tidy

3. Build VMDocker

go build -o ./build/hymx-node ./cmd

4. Install System Dependencies

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install gcc build-essential redis-server

CentOS/RHEL:

sudo yum install gcc gcc-c++ make redis

🔧 Optional: CRIU Installation (Linux Only)

📝 Required for: Checkpoint and restore functionality 🖥️ Platform: Linux systems only

Install CRIU v4.1

# Download CRIU v4.1 source code
wget https://github.com/checkpoint-restore/criu/archive/criu_v4.1.tar.gz
tar -xzf criu_v4.1.tar.gz
cd criu-criu_v4.1

# Compile and install
make
sudo make install

# Verify installation
criu check
# Expected output: "Looks good."

🐳 Docker Configuration

⚠️ Important: Docker version 27.3.x is required for optimal compatibility.

Enable Experimental Features

Docker checkpoint requires experimental features to be enabled:

# Create Docker daemon configuration
sudo mkdir -p /etc/docker

# Enable experimental features
sudo tee /etc/docker/daemon.json <<-'EOF'
{
  "experimental": true
}
EOF

# Restart Docker service
sudo systemctl restart docker

# Verify experimental features are enabled
docker info | grep "Experimental"
# Expected output: "Experimental: true"

⚙️ Configuration

📝 Create Configuration File

VMDocker uses standard HyMatrix configuration format. Create a config.yaml file:

# 🌐 Node Service Configuration
port: :8080
ginMode: release  # Options: "debug", "release"

# 🔴 Redis Configuration
redisURL: redis://@localhost:6379/0

# 🌍 Storage & Network
arweaveURL: https://arweave.net
hymxURL: http://127.0.0.1:8080

# 🔐 Node Identity (Wallet)
prvKey: 0x64dd2342616f385f3e8157cf7246cf394217e13e8f91b7d208e9f8b60e25ed1b
keyfilePath:  # Optional: path to keyfile instead of prvKey

# ℹ️ Node Information
nodeName: test1
nodeDesc: first test node
nodeURL: http://127.0.0.1:8080

# 🔗 Network Participation
joinNetwork: false  # Set to true for production network

📊 Configuration Reference

Field	Type	Description	Example
port	string	HTTP server port	:8080
ginMode	string	Gin framework mode	release or debug
redisURL	string	Redis connection URL	redis://@localhost:6379/0
arweaveURL	string	Arweave gateway URL	https://arweave.net
hymxURL	string	Local node URL for SDK calls	http://127.0.0.1:8080
prvKey	string	Ethereum private key (hex)	0x64dd...
keyfilePath	string	Alternative to prvKey	./keyfile.json
nodeName	string	Node identifier	my-node
nodeDesc	string	Node description	Production node
nodeURL	string	Public node URL	https://my-node.com
joinNetwork	boolean	Join HyMatrix network	false (testing), true (production)

📚 For detailed configuration options, see HyMatrix Configuration Documentation

📋 Module Configuration

🏷️ Module Format Requirements

VMDocker modules must follow specific format requirements to ensure proper container execution:

ModuleFormat Specification

• Required Prefix: web.vmdocker-
• Format Pattern: web.vmdocker-{runtime}-{version}
• Examples:
  • web.vmdocker-golua-ao.v0.0.1
  • web.vmdocker-wasm-ao.v1.0.0
  • web.vmdocker-evm-ao.v2.1.0

Required Tags

Every VMDocker module MUST include the following tags:

Tag Name	Description	Example
Image-Name	Docker image name and tag	chriswebber/docker-golua:v0.0.2
Image-ID	Docker image SHA256 digest	sha256:b2e104cdcb5c09a8f213aefcadd451cbabfda1f16c91107e84eef051f807d45b

⚠️ Important: Both Image-Name and Image-ID tags are mandatory. Missing either tag will cause module validation to fail.

Create Your Own Module

Follow these steps to create and deploy your custom VMDocker module:

Step 1: Modify Module Configuration

Edit the examples/module.go file and fill in your module information:

// examples/module.go
item, _ := s.GenerateModule([]byte{}, schema.Module{
    Base:         schema.DefaultBaseModule,
    ModuleFormat: "web.vmdocker-golua-ao.v0.0.1",  // Must start with "web.vmdocker-"
    Tags: []arSchema.Tag{
			{Name: "Image-Name", Value: "chriswebber/docker-golua:v0.0.2"},
			{Name: "Image-ID", Value: "sha256:b2e104cdcb5c09a8f213aefcadd451cbabfda1f16c91107e84eef051f807d45b"},
		},
})

Step 2: Generate Module File

Run the command in the examples directory to generate the module configuration file:

cd examples
go run ./ module

This will generate a mod-xxxx.json file containing your module configuration.

Step 3: Deploy Module

Copy the generated module file to the VMDocker modules directory:

# Copy the generated module file to cmd/mod/ directory
cp mod-*.json ../cmd/mod/

Step 4: Verify Deployment

Check if the module file is correctly deployed:

ls ../cmd/mod/mod-*.json

Now your custom module is ready to use in VMDocker!

Validation Process

VMDocker automatically validates modules using the checkModule function:

1. ✅ ModuleFormat Check: Verifies format starts with web.vmdocker-
2. ✅ Image-Name Check: Ensures Image-Name tag exists and is not empty
3. ✅ Image-ID Check: Ensures Image-ID tag exists and is not empty

If any validation fails, the module will be rejected and container creation will fail.

Getting Image SHA256

To obtain the correct Image-ID value:

# Pull the image
docker pull chriswebber/docker-golua:v0.0.2

# Get the SHA256 digest
docker inspect chriswebber/docker-golua:v0.0.2 --format='{{.Id}}'
# Output: sha256:b2e104cdcb5c09a8f213aefcadd451cbabfda1f16c91107e84eef051f807d45b

🔧 Module Setup

📦 Generate Module Configuration

1. Configure Example Settings

   Edit the configuration in examples/main.go:

   // examples/main.go
   var (
       url    = "http://127.0.0.1:8080"  // Your node URL
       prvKey = "0x64dd2342616f385f3e8157cf7246cf394217e13e8f91b7d208e9f8b60e25ed1b"  // Your private key
   
       signer, _  = goether.NewSigner(prvKey)
       bundler, _ = goar.NewBundler(signer)
       s          = sdk.NewFromBundler(url, bundler)
   )
   

2. Generate Module File

   cd examples
   go run ./ module
   

   This will generate a mod-xxxx.json file containing your module configuration.

3. Install Module

   # Copy the generated module file to the modules directory
   cp mod-*.json ../cmd/mod/
   

🚀 Running VMDocker

1. 🔴 Start Redis Server

Ensure Redis is running before starting VMDocker:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo systemctl start redis-server
sudo systemctl enable redis-server

# CentOS/RHEL
sudo systemctl start redis
sudo systemctl enable redis

# macOS (with Homebrew)
brew services start redis

2. 🚀 Launch VMDocker Node

# From the project root directory
./build/hymx-node --config ./config.yaml

3. ✅ Verify Startup

Successful startup will display:

INFO[07-25|00:00:01] server is running   module=node-v0.0.1 wallet=0x... port=:8080

🌐 Network Participation

🔗 Join HyMatrix Network

To participate as a network node operator:

1. Configure for Production

   joinNetwork: true
   nodeURL: https://your-public-domain.com  # Your public URL
   

2. Stake HMX Tokens

   • Acquire the required HMX tokens
   • Complete the staking process

3. Complete Registration

   • Submit node registration
   • Wait for network acceptance

💰 Rewards

Participating nodes earn rewards for:

• ⚡ Computation execution
• 📝 Log submission
• 🔗 Network services
• 🛡️ Network security

📖 For detailed network joining instructions, see HyMatrix Network Documentation

Using

Run AOS Client

vmdocker is an AO-compatible system. Use the modified AOS to connect to vmdocker.

1. Clone AOS repository:

   git clone https://github.com/cryptowizard0/aos
   

2. Install Node.js dependencies:

   npm install
   

3. Start AOS client:

   • cu-url and mu-url should be the same as the vmdocker node url
   • scheduler is the vmdocker node id

   DEBUG=true node src/index.js \
    --cu-url=http://127.0.0.1:8080 \
    --mu-url=http://127.0.0.1:8080 \
    --scheduler=0x972AeD684D6f817e1b58AF70933dF1b4a75bfA51 \
    test_name
   

   After the first launch, please record your Process ID. To reconnect to the specific process later, use the following command:

   DEBUG=true node src/index.js \
    --cu-url=http://127.0.0.1:8080 \
    --mu-url=http://127.0.0.1:8080 \
    --scheduler=0x972AeD684D6f817e1b58AF70933dF1b4a75bfA51 \
    {{pricessid}}
   

Examples

Reference implementations are available in the examples directory.